Amanda Nunes was the latest high profile name to pull out of UFC 249. She joined UFC Lightweight Champions Khabib Nurmagomedov and Rose Namajunas in doing so. The aforementioned duo pulled out due to the coronavirus travel restrictions and losing family members because of the pandemic, respectively.

‘Lioness’ reason indicated that she wanted a full camp. As per the wrestler, it would only be possible once the coronavirus passed. However, in a chat with Combate, her coach Conan Silveira revealed the truth behind the withdrawal. 

Amanda Nunes injured

“Amanda had a small ankle injury she preferred to stop and treat, rather than running because we were at that stage where we didn’t know what would happen. We didn’t know if it would be May 9, where it was going to be, we had several questions and few answers. In the training we were doing before we stopped, she got hurt and we didn’t want to force it. We prefer to stop and treat, for her to be ready, as she always has been, to return as soon as possible.”

There is no official date for the match. However, based on the top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter’s comments on needing a month or so, we could see it in June or July. ‘Feenom’ wasn’t thrilled as she claims to have been training from the start of March when the fight was announced. She said to MMA Mania, “I can’t take a break right now because I’ll be fighting in June, probably. If she had no intention of fighting on May 9, I wish she would’ve said it sooner.” 

The Featherweight fight was to co-headline UFC 250 at Sao Paulo. However, due to the pandemic, it was moved to UFC 249. The UFC 250 main event also shifted to this card. Dominick Cruz replaced Jose Aldo for the men’s Bantamweight Championship showdown.

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Could ‘Lioness’ maiden featherweight title defense take place at Fight Island?